Using <ref> to point to footnote content

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My question concerns itself with finding a method for encoding content for footnotes that does not encode the content "inline." That is, I would like to tag a word or group of words to be annotated with a <ref> tag that points to the footnote content that has been encoded elsewhere in the xml document.

The motivation for this is to create XHTML that allows the user to view the footnotes simply by hovering over the annotated words with their cursor. How should I best encode my content to make this possible?

I believe the <ref> tag to be necessary because it allows me to reference the word or words in their entirety rather than simply referencing a point in the xml doc like ptr or anchor would do.

I've attempted to recreate TEI documentation like:

annotated text <ref target="#a51" type="noteAnchor">⁵¹</ref>

<!-- ... -->

<note xml:id="a51" type="footnote">text of annotation</note>

However, when I encode the <note> value after the last line group of the text, a lone superscript appears in the XHTML output where the <note> tag appears in the XML doc... maybe this is an XSL issue? Should I encode the <note> values in the <back> section?

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Ah, yes, I neglected to specify that this encoding is taking place within an XML document, transformed with XSL... I'm aware that the hover function is implemented using Javascript; my concern is encoding the information within XML such that the footnotes are associated with the word or words to be annotated and then are accessible for the hover function later on.

I found the <xsl: if.... section online and am trying to fit it into what I've already written to handle the footnotes in a basic way. I've only managed a basic transformation into XHTML and the first paragraph comes out looking like:

Frankreich und Russland — das gilt uns gleich.

'S giebt Böses und Gutes in jedem Reich!

— England allein steht vor Gericht,

ThemisIn Greek mythology, Themis is a goddess, daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). In Homer she personifies order and justice. wägt mit verhülltem Gesicht.

— Hier IrlandAs part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Ireland joined the war in 1914 with the other two major Entente powers (France and the Russian Empire). — da Belgien!Germany invaded neutral Belgium on 4 August 1914, prompting Britain to declare war on Germany. The British army was based largely in Flanders, which saw some of the highest casualties during WWI. — — Bist du bereit?

Sag uns, was lauter zum Himmel schreit,

O England!

----In the XML, the footnotes are encoded using the <note> tag, and I'm having trouble telling xsl what to do with the contents of the <note> tag. As you can see from above, the English annotations appear right next to the German poetry. What would you suggest?